


Goodbye is the hardest word

by Iamsherlocked67



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Friendship, Goodbyes, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-05 23:44:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4199628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamsherlocked67/pseuds/Iamsherlocked67
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patrick Sharp gets traded and has to say good bye to Jonny & Patrick</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye is the hardest word

**Author's Note:**

> I am just heartbroken about Chicago having to trade Sharpy and i was thinking about this and then this happened. I can't even.
> 
> I really hope that this will turn out to be completely fictitious, but I think Sharpy is going somewhere.
> 
> All mistakes are mine alone.

When the call comes, Sharpy is prepared. He looks at Abby and the girls, picks up his cellphone and goes out on the deck. Through the glass doors, Abby watches as his shoulders slump and then sees him pull himself together and stand up straight. She continues to watch as he takes a deep breath and turns around to come back inside.

“That was Stan” he says unnecessarily.

“And…?” Abby asks.

“Dallas” he replies tonelessly.

Abby’s heart sinks. Obviously, everyone knew this day was coming but she had hoped beyond hope that somehow the Hawks would be able to keep Patrick. Her whole life was in Chicago and she doesn’t want to leave. She puts on a brave smile and goes to hug her husband.

“It will be fine! You like Jamie Benn—you told me that after Sochi.” she says.

Patrick looks at her with sad eyes and says “Yeah. Jamie seemed like a nice guy and I have met Seguin a few times, too. They have a good core there. I think I can help them. It doesn’t make this suck any less.”

All Abby can do is hug him.

*******

Several days pass and Sharpy has spent most of them fielding calls and texts from his friends and family. True to form, Jamie has reached out to him via text and phone and he sounded like he was used to dealing with traded players who don’t want to be in Dallas. Sharpy is nice to him and they even share a laugh or two though, if Jamie had been able to see his face, he would know that Patrick’s laugh and smile didn’t reach his eyes. Segs texts him as well and so does Spezza and Jordie. Various other Stars send welcome texts, too. His Hawk teammates have also texted and called but the conversations were short as tears threatened on both sides of the phone. Sharpy knows he should say his good-byes in person so he starts his rounds of the various Hawks still in Chicago. Finally, all that is left are Jonny and Patrick. Emotionally, he doesn’t know if he can do it. Sharpy decides to visit Jonny first because he can’t imagine that he will be able to do anything other than crawl into ball and sob after he says goodbye to Kaner. 

Sharpy pulls up in front of Jonny’s ridiculously gorgeous house and just sits in his SUV, pulling himself together. With a deep breath, he goes up and rings Jonny’s buzzer. When Jonny answers and Sharpy announces himself, there is a delay before the gate opens and Sharpy thinks it’s because Jonny knows why he is there. Jonny has the door open before Sharpy can close the gate and Patrick feels like he is going to throw up.

“Oh, Captain my Captain” Sharpy says with a tremulous smile as he approaches Jonny.

Jonny returns his smile with a sick looking one of his own and moves aside to let him in. 

“Hey, buddy. You should have let me know you were coming over. I would have had some of the guys over” Jonny says with a slap on Sharpy’s back.

“Um, well. I wanted to talk to you alone” Sharpy says. He knows that Jonny doesn’t do well when there are emotions involved and he also knows that if the guys were there, he couldn’t say what he needs to say. Jonny may not like it but he is going to listen to Sharpy’s emotional vomit.

Jonny gives Sharpy a terrified look and asks if he wants to go up to the rooftop garden. Sharpy says sure and Jonny stops to grab some beers before they head up.

Once they are comfortably sprawled out on chaise lounges under an umbrella, Sharpy starts to talk.

“Jonny, I know this is going to be uncomfortable for you but I have some things I want to say. If I don’t do it now, I never will and I need to say some stuff, OK?” he says as he looks seriously at Jonny. 

Jonny grabs the back of his neck and rubs it for a minute before nodding and then he says “You do know that you don’t have to tell me anything, right? I am pretty sure that whatever you are going to say to me I already know, right?” 

Sharpy nods and says “Yup. But, please let me say it, ok?”

Jonny sighs and says “OK”

Sharpy looks down at his beer and starts peeling off the label. “When you and Kaner first got here, everything changed. It changed in this city and in my life. I could tell that I was going to play for a winner. I never expected to win three Cups, but I knew we would be successful. Our core was unstoppable and while everyone here are such great players, it really was you, Jonny. You brought us together in a way that nobody else could have. You are the greatest captain I ever played for and could ever hope to play for. And, this team is the best team. There will never be another team like this. You and the rest of team, you all have made me a better player and a better person. You know, I love the whole team but I have to say that I love you and Kaner the most. Even though Kaner was my rookie and you were Seabs’, I kind of thought of you as my rookie too since you and Peeks were a package deal, you know?” 

Sharpy holds it together during his speech and once he finishes, he looks up at Jonny and at that point, just loses it because Jonny just has silent tears rolling down his face. Sharpy can pretty much count on one hand the number of times he has seen Jonny cry (he can count on one hand how many times he sees Kaner cry per day) and each time it has happened, it literally guts him. Sharpy doesn’t know what to do because while Jonny is the first to give his teammates hugs when they need it, Jonny usually pushes everyone (except Kaner, of course) away from him when he needs it. So, they just sit there looking at each other for a minute before they both move towards each other and hug. The tears intensify and Sharpy can barely make out what Jonny is saying. Finally, he can decipher it as “What am I going to do without you?”

Once they can breathe again, they break apart but Patrick grabs Jonny’s hand and says “What do you mean what are you going to do without me? You will be fine. You are the captain of a dynasty, Jon.”

Jonny squeezes his hand and lets it go to once again grab the back of his neck. “Sharpy, I am going to miss you something awful. Me, you and Duncs—we are the leadership core. Who will get your A? Who is going to fill your role on this team?”

Patrick just looks at Jonny and says “You know who deserves this A, don’t you?”

Jonny looks back at Sharpy and says “He won’t take it. I have asked him before and he won’t take it. He thinks he doesn’t deserve it because of the shit that happened a few years ago. Kaner will force me to give it to Saader. “

Sharpy looks at him and says “If I ask him to take it, he will. Jon, can this please be the last thing I do as a Hawk? Give Kaner my A?”

Jonny nods and then he can’t help it. The waterworks begin again. He blindly reaches for Sharpy and while they are hugging, he quietly says “I love you, Sharpy”. Over the years, he had said those same words countless times and in countless situations to Patrick, but this time, Jonny means them a little bit more. Sharpy hugs him a bit tighter and replies “I love you, too, Jonny. Thank you for everything you have given to me and made possible. I will miss you more than you will ever know.”

Sharpy releases Jonny and holds him at arm’s length. “Take care of yourself and Peeks, OK?” Then, he leans in, kisses Jonny’s forehead and heads downstairs. On his way, he yells back up “Can you get me Kaner’s jersey with an A on it?” Jonny promises to take care of it and watches Sharpy drive away. He then sits down and starts to picture the future without Sharpy. It isn’t pretty, but Jonny knows that the team will be up to the challenge. They reinvented themselves after 2010 and they will do it again now.

**************  
A few days later, Sharpy stops by and picks up Kaner’s jersey from Jonny’s house. They are able to look at each other without crying now, which is good. Jonny tells him that management is OK with elevating Kaner to the A and he says that he spoke to Duncs as well. He wishes Sharpy luck and gives him a quick hug. Jonny knows how tough this goodbye will be.

**************  
Sharpy is well-known at Trump Tower, so the front desk lets him head right up. He knocks at Patrick’s door and hears him grumbling as he comes to answer it “Goddamit Jonny! This is why I gave you a key! Oh! Sharpy…” he tails off once he has the door open. “Come in.”

Patrick moves into his living room and Sharpy follows slowly. “Um, what are you doing here?” 

Sharpy sits down heavily on Patrick’s couch and says “C’mon Peeks. You know why I am here. You are heading home to Buffalo in a few days and I have to head down to Dallas. I wanted to say good bye to you.”

Patrick is looking everywhere but at Sharpy and says “I was going to come over and say good bye to you and Abby and the girls. I, uh, just wanted to wait.”

Sharpy lets out a sad laugh and says “Peeks, waiting isn’t going to make a difference. I am still going to Dallas.”

With that, Patrick begins to cry. Not silently and neatly like Jonny, but messy with a runny nose and a completely red face. This sets Sharpy off as well but in this case he knows what to do. He pulls Patrick onto his lap like he would do with Maddy and just holds him. Patrick holds him right back and they just cry for a while. Sharpy doesn’t think he can tell Patrick what he planned on telling him—that he is the most amazing player he ever played with, that he deserves everything that he has and more, that he is the best friend Sharpy ever had, that there is nobody he trusts with his children more and just settles on saying “You know that I love you, Peeks, right?”

Patrick just nods and Sharpy continues and says “The best day of my playing career was the day that I met you. I consider you my brother but I think we share something closer than brotherhood. I don’t think that there is a word for it but I feel it. You are part of my heart.” At that point, Sharpy has to stop.

Patrick says in a broken voice “I didn’t think that this would happen. I thought Stan could work his magic and you would be here. With me and Jonny and Duncs and Seabs. We belong together.” Patrick stands up and moves away from Sharpy because he has things he needs to say too.

“Sharpy, you know you saved my life here, right? All the shit I went through being a stupid teenager, knowing you had my back even when you shouldn’t have, that was huge for me. Without you and Jonny, I probably would have washed out before we even won our first Cup. I can never thank you enough for that. And, I love you too. I don’t know how we are going to play here next season without you.”

The tears start again but finally, Sharpy has had enough. He gets up off the couch and grabs Patrick in a bear hug and says “Enough. I don’t think I have any more tears left. If you ever need anything, you can call me and I will be in Chicago so fast, it will make your head spin. No matter where I am. You will always be part of the Sharp family and if you don’t keep in touch with Maddy & Sadie, you will break their hearts. Do you want to be responsible for broken-hearted little girls, Peeks?”

Patrick gives a little laugh and says “No. Your scary wife will come back here and kill me.”

Sharpy laughs and says “You know she will.”

Then, he nonchalantly moves over to the couch where has left the bag he was carrying when he came in and says “Oh, Patty, one more thing. Will you do me a huge favor?”

Patrick looks at him and says “Of course, buddy. What?”

Sharpy reaches into the bag and pulls out the jersey. When he shakes it out, Patrick can see it’s his jersey with an A on it. “Will you wear this?”

Patrick’s eyes open wide and he begins to stutter “Uh, wha- what’s that?”

Sharpy starts to laugh and says “I want you to replace me as the A. “

Patrick is shocked and says “That’s Jonny’s decision. And Duncs. And Q.”

Sharpy says “They are all onboard with this. You know that.”

Patrick doesn’t know what to say but when Sharpy says quietly, “Patrick, please. You are the most deserving person on this team to wear this. Put it on.”

Patrick reaches for the jersey and puts it on. Sharpy gives him a watery smile and says “Looking good, PKane. “

With that, Sharpy grabs his keys and phone and says “Patrick, if I don’t leave now, I never will. Come say goodbye”

Patrick walks Sharpy to the door and embraces him one last time. Sharpy pulls back and grabs Patrick’s face in his hands and just looks into his eyes. Words are unnecessary here. He pulls Patrick close and then lets him go. As he is walking to the elevator, he says “Maybe you should go show off your new sweater, Peeks. I know a certain Captain who would be thrilled to see it.”

**************  
The whole drive over the Jonny’s, Patrick doesn’t know what he will say to him. In the end, he just lets himself into Jonny’s house and heads up to the roof where he knows he will be, with a stop in the kitchen for beer. When Pat steps out on the roof, he sees Jonny busy weeding his garden and muttering about how the hell weeds can grow on a “fucking roof.” 

Pat clears his throat and in a testament to how often they just show up in each other’s spaces, Jonny doesn’t even jump. 

“You bring beer?” Jonny asks as he turns around.

When Jonny sees Patrick in his new jersey, his eyes widen and he can’t help himself. As dirty as he is, he walks over to him and just grabs Patrick. 

“What do you think?” Patrick says softly.

“Biggest beauty in the fuckin’ league” Jonny replies.

“We’ll be OK, right?” Patrick mumbles into Jonny’s neck

“You know we will, Pat. Me and you together can do anything” Jonny replies.


End file.
